Hey there and welcome to the final edition of my stroll down video lane: October. This was a weird one to do since there were only 5 games we want to remember, and every run and every out was so significant that there was no way to pare 'em down. So, I present it all to you more as a handy reference, without my silly commentary, because you remember it all so well anyway.

I'm only doing the 5 games we won in October, because this whole thing is supposed to make us all feel good... for anyone who really wants to re-live how the rest of our playoffs went, just go here.

Re-visit Part 1: April/May, Part 2: June/July, and Part 3: July/August.

NLDS Game 1 (10/1/11): Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 1

Recap: ARI 1, MIL 4
Yovani Gallardo tossed eight spectacular frames and Prince Fielder went deep as the Brewers took down the D-backs, 4-1, in Game 1


Braun throws out Bloomquist
Willie Bloomquist tries to score on Justin Upton's single, but is thrown out on a perfect toss from Ryan Braun in the first inning (Ueck on the call)


Hairston's sac fly
Jerry Hairston drives a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Ryan Braun and giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth


Betancourt's triple
Yuniesky Betancourt hammers a two-out triple over Gerardo Parra's head, setting up Jonathan Lucroy's RBI single in the sixth

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Apart from one special moment in October, this installment of my stroll down video lane is how I choose to remember the 2011 season - wherein we couldn't lose for a whole month and we took the NL Central's pole position. Packed with memorable scenes, both on the individual and team levels, August and September were the best 2-month period I've ever lived through as a sports fan.

As always, feel free to point out any highlights that I missed! Here's the archive I'm working from.

Re-visit Part 1: April/May and Part 2: June/July.

August 3, 2011: Brewers 10, Cardinals 5

The Casey McGehee Show, Part 1 of 3
The first of THREE homers by Casey...!



The Casey McGehee Show, Part 2 of 3
NEVER REGRESS!! (Sigh, too late)



Must C: Classic - Parts 1-3
I couldn't find the regular clip for Casey's 3rd homer but here's the Must C compilation vid with all 3 together, with Provus on the call for #2 and #3

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To recap, I'm putting together a handy index of all the most memorable homeruns, pitching performances, plays, and moments of the Crew's 2011 season so that we can relive the happy parts of this special year. I know it seems like weird timing for this installment, the day after the World Series ended in tragic fashion, but Kyle and I are scheduling these for Saturday and that's just how it worked out. Maybe this'll be therapeutic for some of us somehow.

As always, feel free to point out any highlights that I missed! Here's the archive I'm working from.

Re-visit Part 1: April/May here.

June 3, 2011: Brewers 6, Marlins 5

Braunie with a PH 2-run clout in the 9th to take a 6-5 lead
Down 5-4 in the top of the 9th, Braun comes off the bench and LAUNCHES a Mike Stanton-esque 2-run homer to left. Love the crack of the bat as picked up by the hot stadium mic, and the "yeah, I'm good" bat flip


June 7, 2011: Mets 2, Brewers 1

Carlos Gomez with the 1st of 2 great catches
Yeah we lost the game, but Go-Go did all he could to keep it close



Go-Go robs Beltran
Marco Estrada can't believe it



June 8, 2011: Brewers 7, Mets 6

Nyjer's go-ahead-- wait, OMG WALKOFF DOUBLE
The Crew had given up 5 runs to the Mets in the top of the 8th, only to score 4 in the bottom of the 8th to tie it at 6-6, capped by Prince's 2-run bomb. Apparently all this action was too much for Nyjer to keep track of, but it's all good, as long as we win right


Ahhhhhh gotta go
Plush's coming out party

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If you're anything like me, after a satisfying Brewer win you watch the MLB.com video highlights of the game over and over again until you realize that you've watched the same homerun swing ten times, you've memorized every word and inflection of BA's call, and you've noted the reactions of each different fan in the stands. And then you watch it all again one more time before finally dragging yourself up to bed. Then in bed you'll remember your iPhone can play the videos too.

For us crazies, I'm putting together a handy index of all the most memorable homeruns, pitching performances, plays, and moments of the Crew's 2011 season so that we can relive the happy parts of this special year. I told myself I was gonna do this only if we made it to the World Series, because I'd probably be too defeated to work on it if we lost to the Cards. But even though that ignominy transpired, after I took my head out of the oven I found myself wanting to put this together anyway, to help remember the season for what it was: an awesome ride I'm proud to say I was all in for.

This is Part 1, which covers April and May. I'll post the subsequent parts in the coming days as I finish 'em. Feel free to point out any highlights that I missed! Here's the archive I'm working from.

Thanks to all the writers and community members of BCB for a great season. Hope you have as much fun strolling down memory lane as I did.

April 5, 2011: Brewers 1, Braves 0

Yo throws a 2-hit shutout
The Brewers' (and RRR's) first win of 2011



April 10, 2011: Brewers 6, Cubs 5

Casey's clutch 2-run HR off Kerry Wood
The Crew was down 5-4 to the Cubs in the bottom of the 8th when Casey (hitting .206/.243/235 (.479) up to this point) hit this 2-run shot to take the lead. "FUDGE YEAH!"


Must C: Clutch - Casey's HR again
MLB's Must C vid, including Ueck on the call

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I just thought I'd try to start up a post that helps us out-of-market fans that don't know (m)any other nearby Crew fans hook up with each other and revel in each playoff win together!

I'll start it off with a quick intro - I'm a born-and-raised New Yorker who grew up a die-hard Yankee fan but got bored with them somewhere during the late '90s, and now I'm a HUGE Brewer fan.  Naturally, I'm a rare breed around these parts, so I usually cheer the Crew on by my lonesome in my action-figure adorned man-cave.  Now that the Brewers are on their UNSTOPPABLE MARCH OF DESTINY I'm lookin' to get out and catch some playoff games with other NYC-area fans!

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Sorry if this has been hashed out before, but is there any particular reason Braun's in LF and Hart's in RF, instead of vice versa?  By my account Braun has the stronger arm, and it seems that his plus range and low error rate would be a better fit for RF where uncaught balls and mistakes are magnified.

I could be completely wrong with my assessment of Ryan's defense, or I could be missing something obvious.  Ryan's inexperienced, and Corey's plenty fast too, so the answer could just be "it wouldn't make much of a difference".

Just a quick note.  I'm a lifelong New Yorker/former Yankee fan who somehow became a diehard Crew fan (long story), and made my pilgrimage to Miller Park with my brother 2 years ago.  Over on brewerfan.net I hooked up with a great guy who let us crash his family's tailgater, which was a blast.

Yet another guy said depending on where we were sitting, he just wanted to come over and buy us a beer to welcome us to Milwaukee.  It turned out that we were sitting just one section over, so before the game he made good on his offer, came over with a beer each for my bro and me, and declined our offer to return the favor later in the game.  It was an awesome gesture from a really nice guy to a couple of strangers he'd never see again (in fact, everyone in Milwaukee was great).

Anyway, I just learned today (2 years later) that that guy was in fact The Doorman.  Thanks again, Mark...